Demon Pox and Killer Ducks (How the friendship began)
by A One Girl Revolution
Summary: Will is 13 and thinking about the curse and not even books can snap him out of it this time. Can he have one friend? If Jem is dying anyway... Short: maybe a one shot maybe a bunch of short stories you tell me.


**The are no Clockwork princess spoilers in this story its safe. If you want more short stories about Jem and Will when they were little and cute (not that aren't always lol) let me know. **

**I OWN NOTHING! But if you didn't know that you deserve either to be attacked by ducks or to put up with Magnus for a whole week...which ever you would hate more. **

**If you've read anything by me you know I like to put songs with the chapters/stories so...**

**SONG: Used to be somebody else by Hawk Nelson (Again I don't own the song...I own nothing...talk to the ducks.)**

**IF the spelling or grammar is crappy point it out so I can do better next time. :) I'm a demigod...**

**Please review! If you do and I get requests for more you'll get a sneak peek! It's win win! **

Will closed his eyes and let himself feel the pain he normally tried to hide even from himself. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. He slammed his head against the wall and welcomed the pain. He heard a cough from the doorway and spun agarily. He assumed that the cough was to get his attention and he was angry the person hadn't knocked. But in the brief moment it took him to turn the cough had turned into a coughing fit.

"Jem?" the boy had been here two weeks and Will had decided to let himself have one friend. Jem was dying anyway. A long slow death. Maybe if he allowed Jem to love him or in any case didn't force him to hate him the way he had to do with everyone else the curse wouldn't affect him or maybe it would give him a quick death rather than this long slow torture

But right now he was terrified for the other boy.

"James?" he questioned again. The boy grabbed onto the door frame to hold himself up and Will rushed forward to help him. Jem nodded and managed a smile between coughs.

"Charlotte!" Will shouted, "Charlotte it's Jem! Hurry!"

Jem wasn't afraid, he knew still had some time, they had given him a year or two but he suspected he could last longer than that. However he could see the terror in Will eyes. The boy had been so cruel to him that first day in the training room but since then he'd been better, not friendly exactly but as if he wanted to be but couldn't.

Charlotte heard Will's desperate cry and jumped up from her desk, calling to him that she was on her way.

Jem's coughing had stopped but his sleeve had a few drops of blood on it that Will couldn't help but stare at.

"It's fine. I'm fine."

He was so pale...and his hands were shaking slightly...Will sat on his bed beside him and reached for one of his hands. It was cold and clammy.

"Are you feverish?" he questioned hesitantly.

When Jem simply started cough to again - the coughing shaking his whole body - Will reacted without thought. He put an arm around his shoulders to support him. He could now tell that Jem was indeed feverish.

"Will I'm sorry. I know it's your room but if you could just leave for a moment..."

Will began to stand up but Jem caught at his hand. "No." he gasped out. He was a bit afraid...he hadn't coughed blood very often yet and it freaked him out even though he told himself it didn't. "Don't leave me. Please."

Will glanced at Charlotte forgetting for a moment to guard his expression "Please. Don't make me leave."

"If Jem wants you you may of course stay." Charlotte was shocked by Will's behavior around Jem but gladdened, the sick child seemed to both do Will good and take comfort in the other boy.

After a bit of the silvery power Jem stopped coughing but he was still pale, even his eyes seemed pale and silvery.

"Why don't you rest a moment, then we'll get you to your room. Okay?"

Jem glanced at Will at if asking him a silent question.

"No." Will said firmly after breaking Jems gaze, he could see that Jem did not want to be only and in all honesty either did he. "No let him stay here. He shouldn't move if he doesn't have to."

"I'm fine Will, honestly. But thank you." Will would have wondered why Jem had used his eyes beg him to stay yet his words to send him away if he did not know that he would do the same, only he couldn't afford to beg even with his eyes.

Charlotte took Jem's pulse and felt his head for fever. "You just need rest now. You really should lay down in your room for a bit."

"Charlotte," he tried to keep the frustration out of his voice "I'm going to be sick a lot, I don't want to spend any more of what's left of my life alone in bed then I must."

Will stood "Not alone then. Charlotte is right you should rest, I believe tomorrow we will go to the park to feed the ducks and I do wish you would be strong enough by then to come, you wouldn't want me to be lonely now would you? Now however as I have nothing to do anyway I shall read to you while you rest."

Charlotte didn't even know what to think "as I have nothing to do anyway"? Coming from anyone else the words would have been spiteful, from Will however they seemed the height of kindness.

Jem tried to stand and Charlotte rushed to help him.

"No." he said firmly though he was swaying slightly.

"But Jem..." Charlotte trailed off as she watched Will take over.

"Now James do be reasonable. I understand not wanting to allow a woman to help you stand but do let me, I am as you can clearly see not a woman, I am in fact the manliest of men." Charlotte smiled, as Will rambled on - as he was prone to doing - he took Jem's arm and draped it over his own shoulders, baring most of the boy's weight as he slowly lead him down the hall to his own room. She stood in amasment before realizing that the boys were out of sight and hurrying to catch up to them.

By this time they were to Jem's room and almost to his bed, Will was saying something about demon pox and Jem was looking as if he thought his new friend was insane. He was however not looking as if he was thinking about death or sickness despite the fact that he was being sent to bed for rest and could not stand on his own at the moment.

This was more then Charlotte could have hoped for. Not only was Will actually somewhat happy but he was keeping a dying child from thinking thinking about his own death. Jem claimed to have accepted his looming death but she had heard him crying in the night. She had gone to him the first time only to have explained to her that he needed to deal with it on his own in his own way and that though he apparated her concern he would be fine. He said all this in a way much more fitting to a man of 70 then to a boy of 13 but now as she watched the two boys and heard Jem laugh softly before saying "wait so you're telling me you truly believe in demon pox? Are you daft?" she could see that in a way they were both acting much more like normal children then she'd seen either do up to this point.

"Perhaps but the pox is real I'm telling you!" Will inserted as he helped Jem into bed.

"Have you had it then?" Jem inquired curiously.

"Of course not! Though if I had it I'd hardly tell you considering the way it's acquired!"

"How is it acquired then?" Jem asked his eyes lighting up, knowing from his tone that - rather or not it was true - Wil was about to tell him something inappropriate indeed.

"I don't believe I should tell you that." Will said partly because he didn't think he should but mostly because he enjoyed teasing people, also the light in Jem's eyes as he looked at him begging to be told the sort of forbidden secret boys their age loved made him feel good. He hadn't liked that hopeless look in Jem's eyes when he'd told Charlotte he had no intention of spending the short remainder of his life alone in bed. If he could drive it away, chase away all remittance of it then perhaps he could redeem himself a bit...

Also though he didn't even think of it at the time he had managed to free himself of his dark thoughts that had had him banging his head against the wall though even books hadn't been enough to do that this time. The thought didn't even cross his mind but this boy was going to be his savior, for the times when even books were no comfort.

"I'll fetch you some tea dear." Charlotte said fluffing Jem's pillow and fussing about his bedside. "Then I I'll sit with you a bit till we're quite sure the worst is past."

"No Charlotte, thank you but no. I'll take the tea but you're busy with Clave business. You've been spending far to much time with me since I arrived. Will will stay with me. Won't you?"

Will nodded "Yes we can have much more fun without you sitting here fussing Charlotte."

"But Jem you need-"

"Rest." both boys interrupted and smiled at each other -it was the first time they had done such a thing and they both found very enjoyable.

"I'm in bed Charlotte that's all that's needed at the moment."

"I'll bore him eventually. It will be much easier for him to rest while I read to him about demon pox - since you non believers find it a dull topic - then it would simply lying there staring at the ceiling."

"He's right, I can't fall asleep just because you tell me too but I'm sure he can bore me to sleep without even trying."

"You see I- Hey!" Will exclaimed, glaring at Jem - he wasn't used to having anyone to banter with like this anymore.

Jem laughed and coughed slightly but it wasn't bad and he looked truly happy.

Jem took a sip of his tea and looked expectantly at Wil.

"Read to me."

Will looked at him for a moment before picking up a book about demon pox and begaining to read. Will commenced reading in a drastic voice the way his sisters had loved.

"Stop!"

"What?"

"You're making this up William. There is no way...that...why would anyone...Will that's just sick!"

"Look." Jem's eyes widened as he read where Will pointed and he stared at him in disbelief.

Will laughed "I asked if you were sure you wanted to hear about how one acquires demon pox."

Jem laughed also "Indeed you did. But you didn't tell me exactly how disturbing it would be."

Will looked at Jem for a moment as if deciding whether or not to do something then he burst into song.

"I've learned to never inquire,

How demon pox is acquired.

If a pox speeding demons for hire,

You'd you wished that he was fired.

Just how does one get it?

Simply find a demon willing-"

There was more to his song but he was cut short by a pillow hitting him in the face.

The two boys looked at each other and began to laugh. It wasn't at all like Will to laugh out loud like this, not anymore, not for what seemed a lifetime...but Jem had pulled him out of his darkness - for now at least.

Jem's laugh turned into a cough and Will lept to his feet.

"Oh do sit. I let you stay because I thought you wouldn't do this William. I have enough of that from everyone else. Just keep reading." he almost wanted to kick Will out of his room but he didn't want to be left alone as much as be hated to admit it. Also and more importantly he didn't want to leave Will. He didn't know what was going on with him but it was clear he needed someone to look after him.

"Okay I'll read. Ever read A Tale of Two Cities?"

Will was shocked when his new friend shook his head and insisted on reading it to him.

Will noticed that Jem's eyes were slowly closing. He continued reading until Jem stopped him.

"William?"

Will glanced at him over the book in his hands. He had bad feeling about what Jem was about to say.

"Don't bang your head on things."

Will simply looked at him. "You need to sleep James."

"And you need to not hurt yourself."

"I'll try if you do." Will relented.

Jem nodded knowing this was the best he could hope for.

"Are we really going to feed the ducks tomorrow?"

"We are. Poletery pie."

Jem looked confused then a look of understanding dawned.

"Cannibal ducks. Cleaver, do think they'll eat it?"

Will shrugged but his eyes shone with an excitement that had been missing for a long time.

"We'll find out won't we?"

Jem nodded at fell asleep dreaming of helping Will train a breed of killer ducks.

**Review please! Flame me for all I care just say something! **


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